Welcome to The Organic Christian! Let me tell you a little about my situation so you know where I’m coming from.
I was brought up Catholic, going to Catholic school for all but the last 2 years of my High School years. I always wanted a relationship with Christ but was very adamant that I still needed all the works that I had learned as a Catholic. I still needed the sacraments to get into Heaven, I still had to follow all of the 10 commandments and if I didn’t I had better go and speak to a Priest pronto! Then I moved and started attending a baptist church and something finally clicked. I had other Protestant/Non-denominational Christians in my life that had been trying to tell me for years and years all I needed was Jesus but I just thought they were lazy Christians. That was until my pastor preached about the letter Paul wrote to the Galatians and how he kept trying to tell them again and again that they didn’t need to be circumcised all they needed was Jesus. Their response was “yes, yes that’s great, of course we need Jesus but we’ll also be circumcised just in case” This was exactly my response! (well almost, haha) and it was then I realized I needed Jesus and ONLY Jesus. I was baptized a few months later.
I have always been a heavy girl. I can remember as early back as the 3rd grade realizing that I wasn’t like the rest of my friends. I couldn’t share their clothes but I didn’t quite understand why that was at such a young age. My parents (bless them) tried and tried to get me to lose weight but they went about it all wrong! They made me feel guilty for my eating habbits, making me feel like it was all my fault and had nothing to do with the complete crap they fed me. Looking back on our staple meal of chicken noodles over mashed potatoes and corn just makes me laugh and shake my head. It’s no wonder I was pushing 200 lbs while I was still in high school!
I lived most of my life trying to eat the way I was taught. Low fat, whole grains, calories in vs. calories out. But all this did was set me up to gain more and more weight. I suffered from so many health problems. Insulin resistance, PCOS, lower back pain, joint pain, migraines, IBS. But no one told me all this had to do with my diet. And not just WHAT I ate, but the QUALITY of what I ate.
After having my baby girl I tipped the scales at 275 lbs. It’s no wonder just a few weeks later while hanging up laundry I threw my back out completely. My body just couldn’t hold that much weight! This was both the worst thing and the best thing that could have happened to me. It was the worst as I was obviously in pain and as a result now have a herniated disc. Something that I will have to deal with for the rest of my life no matter how healthy I get. It was the best thing though because the Chiropractor I was seeing at the time introduced me the Paleo Diet. This single handily changed my life. I’m so greatful that God took something so horrible as throwing my back out and turned it good. Just as he promises.
“You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” – Genesis 50:20
So now I’ve been eating this Paleo way for over a year and I seem to be finally getting somewhere. I came to this way of eating by way of Paleo but there are so many other names for it. Primal, Weston A Price, GAPS, Real food diet, Anti-inflammatory diet. These are all essentially the same way of eating. Even within the Paleo world there are many different ways of eating. Some eat nuts and eggs, others don’t. The point is getting away from the old adage of low fat and whole grains and learning that we’re not meant to eat wheat and that fat (good sources like pasture–raised animal fat and coconut oil) is very very good for us.
This blog is going to be about my journey through all this. Because of my old way of eating I have a lot of emotional attachments to food. This means that even a year on I still struggle with eating sugar, grains and even sometimes wheat. I also believe though that I couldn’t be where I am and how far I’ve come without God. He has given me the strength to get through some of the harder and darker times.
Lastly, in this blog I’ll be talking about how I raise my child to be both a Christian and a paleo eater. How I cook for my whole family, what it’s been like trying to convert my extended family such as my parents and siblings. And how just recently I am moving towards healthier options for cleaning supplies, make-up, soaps, shampoos, etc… What’s great is that because this part of being organic is still new to me you get to come along for the ride!
What you should know:
I am not a writer by trade, I don’t actually enjoy writing. I was not one of those kids in high school that wanted to be a journalist or who wrote long stories in the back of their notebooks. I never wrote for my school newspaper and I have no training. So in other words what you will be reading may have run on sentences. It may not have enough commas, or worse yet too many! But it’s real, and it’s me. I am keeping this page 100% incognito so that I can write about those things I’d rather not have my friends, family and husband know about.
My life at a glance:
Parenting:
I have a little girl who is almost 2. I am a stay at home mom. I have been married for over 3 years.
Paleo:
This is how I want to eat and this is how I do eat when I’m not dealing with all the emotional issues that come with food. What is the Paleo diet? Google it, or stick around I’ll be explaining it soon enough.
Faith:
I am a Christian, which means that I believe that Jesus died for my sins. I believe in the Bible and live my life based off of the word of God.
The Organic Christian 